Ex-lawmaker who skipped jail found in hotel, arrested

By Rich Chang / Staff reporter

Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chiang Lien-fu (江連福), who failed to report to authorities last month to start serving a prison term, was arrested early yesterday morning in a hotel in Nantou County.

Chiang was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison by the Supreme Court on Feb. 22 for vote-buying during the 2007 legislative elections in then-Taichung City. Prosecutors told Chiang last month to report to prison on April 18, but he failed to show up.

Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office spokesman Wu Tso-yen (吳祚延) said prosecutors and police officers arrested Chiang at 12:09am yesterday in a small hotel in Puli Township (埔里), Nantou County. His wife was with him.

Chiang and his wife were sleeping when investigators burst into the room. Chiang was calm and cooperated with investigators after being arrested, Wu said.

Chiang was sent to Taichung Prison early yesterday morning.

Wu said Chiang had been hiding in small hotels in Puli since he went missing. The couple had stayed in each hotel for two or three days before changing to another one, Wu said.

Chiang was expelled from the legislature after the Taiwan High Court’s Taichung branch nullified his legislator status in October 2009.

Amid reports that he had fled to China, Chiang released a public statement on April 30 dismissing the reports as baseless and saying he had no intention of fleeing the country.

He said his 90-year-old mother was in chemotherapy for colon cancer, while his wife was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and needed surgery, according to the statement.

He had added that he would report to prosecutors after his wife’s surgery and when proper arrangements were made for his family.

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